Traveling on and off for the last five years one could say that I've been on a
lot of planes and through a lot of airports, so, I decided to give you guys
and girls my best airplane and airport tricks tips and hacks
Always check in online. There are three huge reasons why you should do this
first things first is if you are on a long-haul flight older planes don't have
plugs
some airlines let you know what seat up bugs in it plugs are important so you
can choose the seats that have the plugs. The best rule of thumb is to pick
a seat at the very front of the plane because those generally have a higher
chance of having a plug
Also if you have a tight connection choosing a seat as close as you can to
the front
make sure that you get off the plane first, which can add 5 to 10 minutes,
as opposed to if you were in the back of the plane
this is a huge difference if you were in that position where you are running for
your flight + sometimes airline carriers over booked seats.North american airline
carriers. Which means that even though you paid for your plane already, doesn't
necessarily guarantee that you have a seat on your flight
Yes, so by checking it online you kind of get first dibs at seats
Now if you are like me and you like to get your food first when you board a plane
order a special meal
these are of course dietary requirements, specific meals
meaning that you will be giving up a certain food group like meat or dairy or like
kosher or low fat but the benefit is
that you get your food first so if you can live without a certain group you get
your food first and in a huge plane
this can be the difference of like 15-30 minutes
You can also pack snacks, however if you are packing things like fruits or nuts
make sure you eat it before you d board your plane and go through customs in
whatever foreign country you're in, because sometimes they have restrictions on
certain foods coming in
Don't buy a black bag
Seriously, don't buy a black bag. Now I've had my luggage lost a few times down the
first thing they ask you when you lose your luggage is to identify what your
bag looks like. If you tell them it's a black bag
well good luck because that's them trying to identify your bag in a big
pile of bags if yours is the black bag
it is going to be way harder to find then if it's something that really
stands out
Also make sure you snap a photo of your luggage before you board this helps a
lot with identifying what your bag looks like
Four wheeled suitcases are always better than two wheels suitcases
trust me, pushing your suitcase is going to be a lot easier than pulling a two
wheeled suitcase
Bring an empty water bottle
you can take it through security and then once you're past security you can
fill it up at any of the free water fountains they have, and you have
liquid that's not ridiculously overpriced at an airport. Dress in layers
Now airports have a "Katy Perry" problem
aka, they are hot when you were going through the airport and when you first
get on a plane and then they are freezing cold
once you were on the plane. It is best to dress in layers so you can take clothes off
you take clothes on depending on what temperature you want to be. Yes I
personally love wearing some sort of hooded contraption like a hoodie
you might call it or something that I can put over my head
When your plane gets cancelled or something goes wrong the number one tip
I can give you is don't get mad, get sad. if you were yelling at airport staff
that's just like in a situation really, that's not going to want to make them
want to help you
I mean I completely understand situation I've been, I've been there. I've been
frustrated, I've been tired
I've been pissed off, but yelling at other people
does not get you anywhere at the airport they're just going to go
sorry nothing I can do. Whereas if you try to make them sympathize with you if
there are a lot of other people having a horrible situation and a lot of other
flights being cancelled
you know we're probably gonna look a little bit more favorably in your case
this is personally led to me getting free flights rerouted
it's led to me not paying excess baggage fees
it's led to me getting a preferred choice of hotel and extra meal vouchers
even when I didn't even need a meal voucher just being nice and patient
and also crying, crying kind of
If you can do it you're gonna pull off the crying, but not the tears
Seriously crying people you know
Also for more complex issues it's all about who you talk to
at an airport. Front counter check in staff can only do so much
but there are customer service people and there are office people, there are a
lot of different people that work for an airline that can help solve your
situation on various levels
you know what I'm saying. They can make things happen
The higher the person in charge the better your chances
also if you are currently waiting in line like a big huge line, and you're like
everyone else's
planes been canceled, try calling in the airline even if you're in line
try calling in the airline because sometimes that can be a lot quicker than
waiting in the line to talk to a service rep
Get lounge access now this can be a whole video in and of itself on
different airline alliances and how to get a frequent flyer miles
but basically the gist of it is once you get to a certain level you get
lounge access and it's wonderful
basically lounge access is free Wi-Fi, it's comfortable seats and its snacks
Pretty good deal if you're going to be in an airport for several hours and a layover
you know, lounge access it's quite nice.If you don't have a frequent flyer miles
and you cannot actually get lounge access try to see if you can pay for lounge
access
That's right, certain lounges allow you to pay a fee to access the lounge is
usually like twenty-five to fifty dollars
Now of course you have to determine if it's actually worth the lounge. I would
say unless you have a layover of at least an hour and a half to two hours or
more then it might be worth it to pay for the lounge access. If it's anything
less than that then you can probably find something else to do with your time
and save yourself the thirty to fifty dollars
Also if your airport doesn't have free Wi-Fi you can always sit outside of a
lounge and kind of you know
cypher off their free Wi-Fi, yeah, Nadine's
recommendations. You never need to be the airport
three hours before your flight unless you are flying like on a super busy
holiday at the biggest airports on the middle of the day we do not need to be
there for three hours before, two hours is usually fine for international or
domestic flight 2.5 if you are a busy airport and you need to go through
customs as well as security because security doesn't take as long as you
have to go through customs and security but really two hours is what I usually
do, and I'm always fine with that
If you are running late for a flight
i.e., your flight is already boarding or is about to board
tell somebody, tell somebody. You are waiting in line for security let one of
the, the control
I don't know what they are called, but like one of the guards that are there know that
your flight is boarding or is about to board because they can put you through
magical priority lines that get you through security like that
if you have a fight that is boarding or is about to board, like really tight
schedule, so just ask them
Also don't forget to ask your fellow travelers if you are already in line
ask the people in front of you, hey look explain to them the situation my plane
is about to board or it's currently boarding at the moment
could I please just go ahead of you through security lines. Now this is kind of a
mixed grab bag because obviously depends on who it is that you're asking but
people let me through before. I've seen this happen many times before unless those
people themselves are late for a flight
they'll generally just let you through because if they're not in a hurry then
it doesn't really matter to them. Don't be afraid to ask
airline staff directions if you are lost what's the quickest way to get places. I
have done this many times before I've asked them what's a good place to eat or
how do I get to this terminal or how to get to this. They'll help you. Don't be
afraid to ask what I've been told crazy shortcuts for some of the busiest
airport to go through like parking lots in these weird alleys, sounds sketchy, but
it got me to my gate a lot faster than I thought if I just follow the signs into
the normal way
So yeah, that's it. If I happen to miss anything else that you guys and gals have
discovered on your travels
please let me know down below in the comments. Yeah, thank you so much for
watching don't forget to subscribe to my channel for more tips and tricks and
happy flying.
Bye